NewsWrap
for the week ending June 5, 1999
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #584, distributed 6-7-99)
[Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill,
Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Martin Rice, Rex Wockner, Chris Ambidge,
Bjoern Skolander, Laurie McBride, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle]
Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Dean Elzinga
Legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples is gaining momentum in
Australia.
This week in New South Wales, the Legislative Assembly approved without
opposition a bill that makes the state by far the nation's leader in couples
rights. The new law amends more than 20 existing statutes to give
same-gender couples the same property rights as unmarried heterosexual
couples, including access to the District Court to determine division of
property and support payments when couples break up. It also gives each
partner authority to make treatment decisions if the other becomes disabled,
and standing to receive accident compensation if the other is disabled or
killed. Some areas not covered in the law, such as adoption, are already
being studied by the state legislature.
In Queensland, where the two previous state governments actively sought to
deny recognition to gay and lesbian couples, the current Australian Labor
Party government has introduced a bill to give them equality in employment.
The Industrial Relations Bill would prohibit job discrimination based on
sexual orientation or on membership in a same-gender relationship. It would
define "spouse" to include same-gender partners for purposes of all state
contracts and state-based workplace agreements, and all future contracts
would undergo review by the Anti-Discrimination Commission. This would open
to gay and lesbian couples such benefits as parental, family and bereavement
leave, and any other provisions applying to partners or families. It could
be passed as soon as the coming week.
Also this week, a report by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission was formally presented to the national parliament. The report
calls for extending old-age survivor benefits to gays and lesbians who
outlive their partners, and legislation has already been introduced to do
this. The Commission found that denying these benefits violates both the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International
Labor Organization Convention on Discrimination.
Couples rights continue to advance in Canada, where this week two gay men
became the first to win public benefits as surviving partners of same-gender
couples. The federal government settled complaints filed by Nova Scotians
Wilson Hodder and Paul Boulais, saying that the current limitation of Canada
Pension Plan benefits to heterosexual relationships could not be justified in
their cases. Although the settlement applies only to these two men, the
attorney representing both of them is confident that it signals that the
government will also be settling in all similar cases across the country. A
year ago, Nova Scotia had granted both men the benefits of the employee
pensions their partners had earned working for the province's Education
Department.
A domestic partners registry granting most of the benefits of traditional
marriage was recommended for Finland this week in a proposal from a committee
set up by the Minister of Justice. Justice Minister Johannes Koskinen said
he supports the proposal but its legal impact needs further study, and he
said it won't be discussed in the parliament until next year. Some areas for
equal treatment would be taxation, inheritance, survivors pensions and other
social benefits. However, despite the objections of committee member Rainer
Hiltunen, a leader of Finland's national gay and lesbian group SETA, the
proposal would deny adoption rights to same-gender couples, even the right to
step-parent adoptions.
A bill to allow gays and lesbians to co-adopt their partners' children
passed the Connecticut state House of Representatives this week -- but only
with the addition of a rider against same-gender marriages which has probably
killed it in the state Senate. Obviously many people who support
second-parent adoptions do not support the marriage ban, which even includes
fines for those who try to marry gays and lesbians. Also, the House debate
lasted nearly three hours, and with the legislative session ending in the
coming week, the Senate can't afford the time for extended debate on the
marriage question.
Evan Wolfson of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's Marriage
Project said, "If right-wing legislators want to have a debate on an
anti-marriage measure, they should introduce it [early in the session] and
hold [public] hearings. Don't use it as a poison pill."
California's state Assembly, also striving to beat a deadline, has passed
not one but two bills to increase availability of health insurance coverage
for domestic partners, plus a hate crimes bill and a civil rights bill, all
of which will move next to the state Senate. But despite those successes,
after more than two hours of passionate debate, a bill to add sexual
orientation to anti-discrimination policies for state-funded schools fell one
vote shy of passage. This was the third time the Dignity for All Students
bill failed in the Assembly, but its sponsor, openly lesbian Santa Monica
Democrat Sheila Kuehl, will reintroduce it next session.
Sheila Kuehl: “There is a horror involved in knowing that you will be the
target of discrimination, and you live with it. Not only do you live with
it, you put it way down somewhere where you’re not gonna think about it every
day, or ... you’re just gonna smile and smile, no matter what people say to
you -- ‘cause you have to, you have to... but ... it hurts.”
Eight Democrats resisted pressure from their party to vote against the bill.
It's likely that they were motivated by an extensive and incendiary religious
right advertising campaign, one which specifically targeted Democratic
Assemblymembers from more conservative districts.
Nevada is now the 11th state to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination
in employment. Republican Governor Kenny Guinn has signed into law the bill
sponsored by openly gay Democratic state Assemblymember David Parks. Guinn
said, "Signing this bill was a matter of fairness and doing what's right for
the people of Nevada. Discrimination based on race, gender, religion or
sexual orientation is wrong, and I hope this law sends that message loud and
clear.
With the U.S. Congress in recess this week, President Bill Clinton bypassed
Senate confirmation to appoint James Hormel the nation's first openly gay
Ambassador. White House spokesperson Joe Lockhart told the press...
Joe Lockhart: “This is a clearly qualified ambassadorial candidate who
enjoyed strong support from the foreign policy community... and I think from
an overwhelming majority of the Senate.”
Hormel's nomination to the Luxembourg embassy was approved by the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee late in 1997, but the Republican majority refused
to schedule a floor vote on confirmation until that nomination expired.
Clinton renominated Hormel in January of this year, but still no vote was
scheduled, despite the pleas of not only Democrats but even some conservative
Republicans. Now Clinton has used his power to make temporary appointments
while the Congress is not in session, and Hormel will be able to serve
through the end of next year. It's widely believed that Hormel would have
been confirmed had the Senate ever voted, and Luxembourg welcomed his
nomination from the first, but a handful of Republican Senators believed the
appointment would inevitably serve to "promote" homosexuality.
In Canada, Ontario residents elected their first openly gay Member of the
Provincial Parliament this week. First-time candidate George Smitherman of
the Liberal Party will represent the heavily gay and lesbian Toronto Centre -
Rosedale riding. Although a close race had been expected, Smitherman jumped
off to an early lead and maintained it throughout the count, to end up well
ahead of his three main competitors with 38.8% of the vote.
A second gay candidate for the provincial parliament, Bonte Minnema in
Etobicoke Centre, had little success against an important incumbent in a
district which has never elected a candidate from his New Democratic Party.
And finally... The Bank of Scotland has called off a $30-million venture
for an Internet/telephone banking system in the U.S. that was to be headed by
anti-gay religious right leader Pat Robertson. Scottish gays and lesbians
began to protest as soon as the deal was announced in March, and were quickly
joined by two AIDS charities, the head of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and
the Edinburgh City Council. The West Lothian and Shetland Councils followed,
along with more churches and charities, and this week Britain's
100,000-member Trades Union Council and members of Scotland's new national
Parliament joined in. The 300-year-old bank's announcement politely referred
to "changed external circumstances." Robertson's statement "expressed regret
that media comments about him had made it impossible to proceed," but the
fact is that what sank him were his own comments on his own TV show on his
own Christian Broadcasting Network. In mid-May, he dragged out tapes made
more than a year ago of a reporter's visit to Scotland, so that he could
describe it as a "dark land" now devoid of its historic piety and Christian
heroes like John Knox. He denounced European "tolerance" and said, "In
Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are. It's just
unbelievable." He called on his audience to pray for Scotland. As one
editor couldn't resist saying in a headline, “he queered the deal”.